


can't tame the lion

by liggytheauthoress



Category: The Losers (2010)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, M/M, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-13
Updated: 2020-06-13
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:42:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24693208
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/liggytheauthoress/pseuds/liggytheauthoress
Summary: "And then the guard raises his gun and puts a bullet into both of Jensen’s legs."
Relationships: Carlos "Cougar" Alvarez/Jake Jensen
Comments: 16
Kudos: 126





	can't tame the lion

**Author's Note:**

  * For [dutchydoescoke](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dutchydoescoke/gifts).
  * Translation into Русский available: [Нельзя одомашнить льва](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26069341) by [fandom Evans and roles 2020 (fandom_Evans_and_roles)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fandom_Evans_and_roles/pseuds/fandom%20Evans%20and%20roles%202020)



> I was dragged into this fandom several weeks ago by my best friend and this ship kind of...took over my brain...Anyway we decided that it would have made so much more sense if Jensen had been the one to get shot by the Chryon guard, and then this happened, and we're all going to pretend I didn't have WAY too much fun writing it, agreed?
> 
> Dedicated to Alec, my best friend, enabler, the asshole who keeps dragging me into fandoms kicking and screaming...I hate you <3

Cougar is pissed.

Roque sold them out. He sold _Jensen_ out. He and Cougar hadn’t always gotten along, but there had been a mutual respect between the two of them based on the fact that Jensen’s wellbeing was a major priority for both of them. And Roque had just handed all of them over to Max like it was nothing.

The sniper is so focused on Roque’s betrayal that he barely struggles when the Chryon guard shoves him onto his knees. Pooch goes down, too, but Jensen...Jensen stays standing. Because this is Jensen and he’s never passed up an opportunity to be difficult for as long as Cougar has known him.

The lead guard looks Jensen up and down in a way that makes every muscle in Cougar’s body tense and a growl build in his throat. “Hey, you got a problem, buddy?” the man asks, getting right in Jensen’s face.

And Cougar, Cougar knows better than to hope that Jensen _won’t_ rise to the bait and come back with some smartass remark, but he hopes anyway, silently willing the younger man to exercise some kind of self-preservation for once in his life.

“No. I just think that if you want me on my knees, you could at least buy me dinner first.”

Cougar closes his eyes for a second, exhaling harshly. The air around them all stills and goes silent for a moment, the weight of what Jensen has just done settling over all of them.

And then the guard raises his gun and puts a bullet into both of Jensen’s legs.

It’s the last mistake he’ll ever make.

A cloud of red mist seems to fall across Cougar’s eyes as Jensen’s strangled cry of pain hits his ears, as Jensen goes down for the second time in less than twelve hours, and the coil that’s been winding tighter and tighter in Cougar’s body finally _snaps_.

He doesn’t think about it. He just moves.

Cougar is on the guard the second Jensen hits the ground. His hands are still bound, he has no weapons, but he doesn’t need either, because as soon as he’s close enough he’s baring his teeth and plunging them into the guard’s neck with all the force he can manage.

The iron tang of blood fills his mouth as the guard _shrieks_ and loses his footing, and Cougar goes down with him because there is nothing on earth that could get him to release his grip right now, not after what this bastard just did. He digs in harder, tearing at the flesh with his canines, and he has _never_ felt more like his namesake than he does right now, with his teeth buried in the neck of the man who dared to hurt the person Cougar loves most in this world.

He’s dimly aware of an explosion rocking the ground beneath them, and that snaps him partially back to reality. Cougar sets his grip and _yanks_ , and the guard howls in agony and starts to choke on his own blood as the sniper gets to his feet with a chunk of the man’s neck clenched in his teeth.

Pooch has already incapacitated one of the other guards, which leaves two. Cougar lunges at the closest one, who doesn’t even have time to raise his gun before Cougar is slamming an elbow into his jaw. The crack of bone against Cougar’s arm is a welcome sound, but he doesn’t take the time to truly savor it, already whirling around and sending the heel of his boot straight into the third guard’s chest.

The man staggers backwards into the shipping containers behind him but stays up. Cougar grabs the gun from the second guard - who has fallen to his knees moaning in pain and clutching the side of his face - and drives the butt of the rifle into the third guard’s face. Then does it again for good measure.

He turns back to the man with the shattered jaw and smashes the rifle into the back of his head. The guard slumps forward onto the now-bloody pavement, and Cougar’s not sure if the man is alive or dead and frankly he doesn’t give a fuck. He shoves a hand into the guard’s pocket until he finds the key to the handcuffs and unlocks the cuffs with practiced ease before turning his attention to more important thing.

Pooch is crouched at Jensen’s side, pulling the handcuffs off the hacker’s wrists and muttering, “Jesus, J, when you said you were up for getting shot again we didn’t think you meant _today_ …”

And Jensen, Jensen _laughs_ \- even if it does come out as more of a breathless half-sob - and says, “Hey, you know me, man, I don’t half-ass shit,” and god Cougar could fucking kiss him if he thought he could get away with it.

Cougar falls to his knees on Jensen’s other side, eyes scanning the wounds in his legs - both through-and-through, a lot of blood, but not fatal, _gracias a Dios_. He almost jumps when he feels a familiar hand land clumsily on his thigh, his gaze automatically moving to meet Jensen’s without him even having to think about it.

It occurs to Cougar what he must look like - eyes wild, breathing heavy, his lips and chin and neck painted with the blood of the man whose throat he practically ripped out - but Jensen is just smiling at him. Neither he nor Pooch look even a little perturbed by what Cougar just did, and honestly, Cougar isn’t surprised.

He’s done worse to people for hurting Jensen in the past.

Jensen squeezes Cougar’s thigh weakly, the wordless _it’s okay, I’m okay_ seeping into Cougar’s bones, and Cougar takes a minute to just breathe.

“J, can you stand?”

Cougar shoots Pooch a glare even as Jensen huffs and remarks, “Oh sure, just give me a hand up and I’ll be good.” Jensen holds his arms out in a wordless request, and Cougar takes one and wraps it around his own shoulders as Pooch mirrors his actions with the other. He can almost physically sense the sounds of pain Jensen is biting back as they haul him up, and it makes him want to go back and finish what he started with the first guard.

They’re too exposed here in the open. Pooch nods towards the narrow gap between two shipping containers and Cougar follows his lead. Carrying Jensen should be difficult - he’s taller and bulkier than the two of them - but Cougar has never had trouble doing so. He could carry Jensen all on his own, if he had to.

Once they’re behind cover, they carefully set Jensen down on the ground, and Cougar is kneeling beside him immediately. He hands off the rifle to Pooch - the other man might not be as good a shot as Cougar, but he’s still damn good, and right now Cougar needs someone else to watch everyone’s back - and rests a hand on Jensen’s shoulder.

Jensen leans into the touch, grimacing a little as the movement pulls at his injuries, and when Cougar mumbles, “ _Idiota_ ,” he doesn’t even bother trying to hide the affection and relief that creeps into his voice.

They lock eyes for a second, something wordless and and visceral passing between them, before Clay and Aisha both appear. Cougar knows he should probably do something about the woman pointing a gun at his commanding officer, but Clay can handle himself, and Cougar is pretty sure he knows what Aisha’s decision is going to be anyway.

She confirms his suspicions almost immediately, taking down the Chryon guards suddenly rushing them from around the corner, and despite everything, Cougar nods in thanks. Aisha notices them then, eyes moving from the bullet wounds in Jensen’s legs to the blood staining Cougar’s face, and he can see her connecting the dots in her mind. 

He also sees the moment she remembers the bullet wound on Jensen’s arm - the one _she_ put there - because for just a moment, her eyes widen in what Cougar knows is nothing less than pure fear.

He smiles at her. Wide and toothy and vicious.

Cougar won’t hurt her, they need her right now and she’s more or less redeemed herself, but he doesn’t mind letting her believe otherwise for a while. It’s a lesson she needs to learn, probably the most important one she ever will learn with the Losers.

She needs to know what will happen if she hurts Jensen again.


End file.
